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“Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” star Jen Shah vowed to fight the charges against her in court and not in the press.
Shah, 48, is facing multiple counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. If convicted on all charges, she faces a maximum of 50 years in prison.
On Thursday, the reality star’s attorney told Fox News Digital: “Ms. Shah denies these allegations and we look forward to responding in court and not in the press.”
At a pre-trial hearing Tuesday in New York, federal prosecutors filed a motion asking a judge to allow evidence to be admitted for trial that the government says peels back the lavish curtain on how Shah spent alleged fraud money she allegedly stole from unsuspecting victims – many of whom are senior citizens – hid the funds, paid for an alleged fraud scheme and failed to declare the income to the Internal Revenue Service.
If convicted on all charges, she faces a maximum of 50 years in prison.
(Chad Kirkland/Bravo)
According to the legal filing, Shah was essentially low on cash and allegedly perpetuated the years-long scheme to fund her extravagant lifestyle.
The New York Police Department said in a statement in March 2021 at the time of Shah’s arrest that the number of victims Shah and her “first assistant” Stuart Smith had allegedly duped stood in the “hundreds” and noted that the alleged fraud had gone on for nearly a decade, starting in 2012.
Meanwhile, in the government’s motion filed Tuesday, prosecutors told the court they anticipate the evidence – if allowed to be presented to a jury at trial – “will show that, for at least certain periods of time during her charged conduct, the defendant was spending far more than she could afford absent the income from the telemarketing fraud scheme.”
JEN SHAH HIT WITH MOTION TO ALLOW EVIDENCE ON HOW SHE SPENT ALLEGED FRAUD FUNDS
Prosecutors say Jen Shah flaunted her lavish lifestyle to the public as a symbol of her “success,” which they claim is all a fraud.
(Heidi Gutman/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)
The government implies it has ironclad evidence to support allegations Shah wasn’t running a legitimate business and that the lifestyle she perpetuated on reality television pales in comparison to the one she was actually living behind the scenes.
Attorney James J. Leonard Jr., who represented “Real Housewives of New Jersey” star Teresa Giudice who was convicted of fraud in 2014, told Fox News Digital earlier this week what advice he has for Shah.
“In all honesty, there’s not much that she could do to prepare for prison if it comes to that,” Leonard told us. “I’m sure she’s hoping that is something she can avoid and that it won’t go in that direction. It’s certainly not a conversation she needs to have right now.”
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In this Oct. 2, 2014 file photo, “Real Housewives of New Jersey” stars Teresa Giudice, and her husband Giuseppe “Joe” Giudice, left, of Montville Township, N.J., walk toward Martin Luther King Jr. Courthouse for a court appearance on federal conspiracy and bankruptcy fraud charges in Newark, N.J.
(The Associated Press)
He added: “People from the outside may be looking at this as if it were theater. As if it’s entertainment. But this is someone’s life. This is not a reality TV show. And just because she’s on a reality TV show, it doesn’t mean that you should want to see bad things happen to her for entertainment.”
Shah’s trial is scheduled to start March 22. Stuart Smith pleaded guilty and is scheduled to be sentenced next month.
